Atacama Yellow 35is build thread

[ultramega]

My recently acquired 35i has aftermarket suspension, intercooler, chargepipe, downpipes, intake, a Quaife LSD and MHD 2+ maps. All in place when I bought the car, but it means this thread is quite interesting reading for me - I'm only up to page 8 at the mo though!

 

[B21]

My recently acquired 35i has aftermarket suspension, intercooler, chargepipe, downpipes, intake, a Quaife LSD and MHD 2+ maps. All in place when I bought the car, but it means this thread is quite interesting reading for me - I'm only up to page 8 at the mo though!

There will be a written exam on the life and times of PB's 35is..pass mark 70%

Saved yourself a serious amount of cash there, assuming you wanted/happy with the mods..kerching!

 

[ultramega]

Saved yourself a serious amount of cash there, assuming you wanted/happy with the mods..kerching!

Very happy with them! I've knocked down to MHD Stage 1 until I get used to the car. My last few cars have been 4WD, so there's some adjustment and re-learning going on. At the moment it feels like... not so much that it wants to kill me every time I drive it, but it wants to let me know that it could kill me if it wanted to.

 

[B21]

Saved yourself a serious amount of cash there, assuming you wanted/happy with the mods..kerching!

Very happy with them! I've knocked down to MHD Stage 1 until I get used to the car. My last few cars have been 4WD, so there's some adjustment and re-learning going on. At the moment it feels like... not so much that it wants to kill me every time I drive it, but it wants to let me know that it could kill me if it wanted to.

If its any consolation the 35is stock with shot adaptive dampers and runflats felt like it was going to kill me!

 

[B21]

Went to visit my favourite Dyno boys in Sunderland today.

We dynoed V10 stage 2+ vs V9 stage 2+ and also V10 satge 2+ with airbox lid off ie no intake restriction and lid on but no air filter to see what impacts. Essentially no air box buys you 8 bhp and no filter buys you 4 BHP.

V10 although no peak horsepower had over 100 nm (at the widest point) more torque.

Looks like the stock turbos at 55k miles at those levels maybe running out of puff.

Pictures, charts here and video link here https://youtu.be/KCey71mGIBk

 

[Nanu]

Should have given me a shout and we could have met up for a coffee. Was a couple o hundred yards around the corner this morning at my Fav garden centre.

 

[B21]

Should have given me a shout and we could have met up for a coffee. Was a couple o hundred yards around the corner this morning at my Fav garden centre.

Ah useful to know..I'll be back in the autumn-ish when we start work on the TT500 big turbos..I'll defer that work till after the summer hooning season

 

[Nanu]

Look forward to it, never driven or seen a yellow peril in the flesh

 

[B21]

Look forward to it, never driven or seen a yellow peril in the flesh

Well if you make the Northumberland weekend you can strap yourself in and take it for a spin ( maybe more of a spin than you thought)..probably safer than trying to max it out around the industrial estates of Sunderland!

 

[ultramega]

That difference in the V10 maps is amazing!

Do you do anything to your car before going for a dyno run? I don't mean to improve performance - more along the lines of safety/prep. I've never done a dyno run before, but can they be stressful on the engine/chassis?

 

[B21]

That difference in the V10 maps is amazing!

Do you do anything to your car before going for a dyno run? I don't mean to improve performance - more along the lines of safety/prep. I've never done a dyno run before, but can they be stressful on the engine/chassis?

Yes folks said that they felt V10 was stronger but some poo poohed it..hence a dyno run.

Actually rolling road dynos are the most benign of the three methods of measuring performance..brake dynos can hold an engine at a particular rpm for hours at a time..the manufacturers use them for reliablity testing amongst other things..'pulls' which are accelerating hard through 2-3 gears on a road are more demanding and can show issues that a rolling road dyno doesn't see and maybe with ram air get better performance than a dyno..repeatablity is the big issue there..traction control, traffic, surfaces etc etc

Obviously you don't want to pay money only to find an issue appearing on the dyno..so fresh plugs and air filter are good ideas.

Depending on where you are going with it then coils if its a 35i and injectors and possibly HPFP

This is where 'pulls' show the car under more strain, the coils, HPFP, injectors tend to break down/collapse more through repeated shifts rather than on a RR dyno where the car is already spinning and its one crisp 'pull' and then coast down.

Obviously this all depends on a comptent operator..if they are data logging they then can see a lot more info and correlate that to give you more structured feedback

 

[Nanu]

Look forward to it, never driven or seen a yellow peril in the flesh

Well if you make the Northumberland weekend you can strap yourself in and take it for a spin ( maybe more of a spin than you thought)..probably safer than trying to max it out around the industrial estates of Sunderland!

Just need to know where the lunch stops are on which days and will be there

 

[ultramega]

Yes folks said that they felt V10 was stronger but some poo poohed it..hence a dyno run.

Actually rolling road dynos are the most benign of the three methods of measuring performance..brake dynos can hold an engine at a particular rpm for hours at a time..the manufacturers use them for reliablity testing amongst other things..'pulls' which are accelerating hard through 2-3 gears on a road are more demanding and can show issues that a rolling road dyno doesn't see and maybe with ram air get better performance than a dyno..repeatablity is the big issue there..traction control, traffic, surfaces etc etc

Obviously you don't want to pay money only to find an issue appearing on the dyno..so fresh plugs and air filter are good ideas.

Depending on where you are going with it then coils if its a 35i and injectors and possibly HPFP

This is where 'pulls' show the car under more strain, the coils, HPFP, injectors tend to break down/collapse more through repeated shifts rather than on a RR dyno where the car is already spinning and its one crisp 'pull' and then coast down.

Obviously this all depends on a comptent operator..if they are data logging they then can see a lot more info and correlate that to give you more structured feedback

Thank you for such a comprehensive answer. Tells me everything I wanted to know and more.

 

[B21]

Oil change week..so after a dubious maintenance record by the former owner time to get things stabilised..

So fresh Mahle oil filter (and Mahle cabin filter) plus Redline ester based 0-30 oil going in..annual / 5,000 mile changes going forward.

Replacing the DCT plastic sump with a nice shallow alloy pan, with a bit more capacity that retains the heat shield. Fuchs DCT oil and new Vaico full DCT filter kit..does come with new bolts and drain..as does the alloy pan.

Whilst the oil is draining we’ll fit the Mosselman upgraded thermostat, fresh gaskets, o rings and oil filter gaskets (all uprated).

Finally some new Osram Nightbreaker D1S bulbs..rated at 200% brighter and a better colour temperature going in as well..the headlights are set low as a result of the new M3 steering arms so will get the new bulbs fitted and lights re-aligned.

 

[R.E92]

I changed the Xenons on both my cars last year as I heard that Xenon bulbs decline in brightness as they age. I decided to go with Osram Nightbreakers on the Z4 and Phillips Xtreme Vision on the E92 just to see which was better as both get good reviews.

Both sets of bulbs promise higher light output, the Osram claimed 200% and the Philips 150%. In reality I can't tell the difference between the two sets. I'd say they offered a slight improvement over the stock 10yr old bulbs, maybe 10% more light at most and a slightly crisper colour.

Not what I expected for £250 of bulbs.

 

[ultramega]

Replacing the DCT plastic sump with a nice shallow alloy pan, with a bit more capacity that retains the heat shield. Fuchs DCT oil and new Vaico full DCT filter kit..does come with new bolts and drain..as does the alloy pan.

Ooh, interesting. I remember reading a thread on the DCT (can't remember where) a while back. Came to the conclusion that servicing it had far more possibility for creating problems than any previous DCT I had owned.

How do you get round the lack of dipstick for filling with the correct amount of oil? I also remember reading that there are two sets of filters in different locations?

 

[B21]

I changed the Xenons on both my cars last year as I heard that Xenon bulbs decline in brightness as they age. I decided to go with Osram Nightbreakers on the Z4 and Phillips Xtreme Vision on the E92 just to see which was better as both get good reviews.

Both sets of bulbs promise higher light output, the Osram claimed 200% and the Philips 150%. In reality I can't tell the difference between the two sets. I'd say they offered a slight improvement over the stock 10yr old bulbs, maybe 10% more light at most and a slightly crisper colour.

Not what I expected for £250 of bulbs.

Thanks for the heads up..I probably wouldn’t have decided to change them had it not been for the fact that it’s going for a headlight re-alignment and I’ve not really had the chance to evaluate the existing performance so since it’s a pain to change then I’d thought I’d let my local MOT man do them..

Not sure whether it’s an age thing but sitting low in the E89 at night the new super bright LED and Xenon discharge lights seem to be particularly dazzling…

 

[B21]

Replacing the DCT plastic sump with a nice shallow alloy pan, with a bit more capacity that retains the heat shield. Fuchs DCT oil and new Vaico full DCT filter kit..does come with new bolts and drain..as does the alloy pan.

Ooh, interesting. I remember reading a thread on the DCT (can't remember where) a while back. Came to the conclusion that servicing it had far more possibility for creating problems than any previous DCT I had owned.

How do you get round the lack of dipstick for filling with the correct amount of oil? I also remember reading that there are two sets of filters in different locations?

It doesn’t look that complicated..they all are variations of drain, new filters, new oil, move the trans through some gear shifts and reach certain temperatures and then ensure excess dribbles out through the relevant hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpiRVOPVNf4

I always change my transmission fluids every 50k-60k miles ..with 650nm through it now and later this year upto maybe 750nm with the new turbos it’s never a bad idea

 

[ultramega]

It doesn’t look that complicated..they all are variations of drain, new filters, new oil, move the trans through some gear shifts and reach certain temperatures and then ensure excess dribbles out through the relevant hole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpiRVOPVNf4

Yes, that makes it sound straight forward. It was the fill/run/fill-more part that seemed fraught with danger to me. This is the thread I read:
https://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=442369 (EDIT: I see this has been previously mentioned in this thread. Still catching up!)

Is it something you are going to do yourself, or have you found a garage with the correct knowledge?

 

[ultramega]

I changed the Xenons on both my cars last year as I heard that Xenon bulbs decline in brightness as they age. I decided to go with Osram Nightbreakers on the Z4 and Phillips Xtreme Vision on the E92 just to see which was better as both get good reviews.

Both sets of bulbs promise higher light output, the Osram claimed 200% and the Philips 150%. In reality I can't tell the difference between the two sets. I'd say they offered a slight improvement over the stock 10yr old bulbs, maybe 10% more light at most and a slightly crisper colour.

Not what I expected for £250 of bulbs.

Thanks for the heads up..I probably wouldn’t have decided to change them had it not been for the fact that it’s going for a headlight re-alignment and I’ve not really had the chance to evaluate the existing performance so since it’s a pain to change then I’d thought I’d let my local MOT man do them..

Not sure whether it’s an age thing but sitting low in the E89 at night the new super bright LED and Xenon discharge lights seem to be particularly dazzling…

A few years back I had an Audi S4. I changed the xenon bulbs for Osram Night Breakers at 124,000 miles and there was a dramatic difference.